Yarn consisting of stiff hair and process for making the same

ABSTRACT

Yarn consisting primarily of stiff hair and a process for making such yarn for use as stiffening inserts and the like. The process comprises placing stiff hairs of natural or synthetic origin consecutively in lengthwise sections, wrapping said sections with natural or synthetic threads so as to tie them together, and form an elongated unit of any desired length, and applying to at least some sections of the tied unit a coating of plastic material. The plastic coating is preferably heated and compressed while in thermoplastic state, whereby the hairs are glued together and the yarn acquires great strength. The fineness of the yarn is between Nm 16 and 24.

United States Patent [1 Rother YARN CONSISTING OF STIFF HAIR AND PROCESS FOR MAKING THE SAME Inventor:

Assignee:

Filed:

Appl. No.:

l-lelmut Rother, lserlohn, Germany Henschke & Co. Hansei-Robhaar KG, Iserlohn, Germany Apr. 9, 1971 US. Cl 156/158, 156/157, 156/172,

Int. Cl B6511 69/02, D02g 3/14 Field of Search 161/175, 170;

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Germany 1451 Nov. 20, 1973 7,010,445 l/1971 Netherlands 156/158 Primary ExaminerGeorge F. Lesmes Assistant ExaminerLorraine T. Kendell Att0rneyAl1ison C. Collard [57] ABSTRACT Yarn consisting primarily of stiff hair and a process for making such yarn for use as stiffening inserts and the like. The process comprises placing stiff hairs of natural or synthetic origin consecutively in lengthwise sections, wrapping said sections with natural or synthetic threads so as to tie them together, and form an elongated unit of any desired length, and applying to at least some sections of the tied unit a coating of plastic material. The plastic coating is preferably heated and compressed while in thermoplastic state, whereby the hairs are glued together and the yarn acquires great strength. The fineness of the yarn is between Nm 16 and 24.

9 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure YARN CONSISTING OF STIFF HAIR AND PROCESS FOR MAKING THE SAME The present invention relates to a process of making yarn having stiffening inserts, which may be natural or synthetic hairs, in particular horse hairs. The invention also relates to yarn made by this process.

Known yarns of this type contain a practically endless filament or thread as a core. Single stiff hairs are applied one by one to this core and are tied to it by a continuous winding or wrapping of one or more threads around the core. The ends of the stiff hairs usually overlap. To obtain the desired strength, these yarns must be provided with both a natural or synthetic core thread and a wrapping of two or more yarns which consist primarily of cotton. The expense involved in making such stiff yarns is quite high.

Furthermore, because of the core thread and the wrapping required, only comparatively coarse yarns having a fineness of Nm 6 to at the most Nm 12 can be produced.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a stiff yarn and a process for producing such yarn, which consists mainly of stiff hairs, preferably horse hair, and which can be produced by simple and inexpensive means.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a process for producing yarn of a desired stiffness and special fineness.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a stiff yarn which is simple in design, easy to manufacture, and efficient and reliable in use.

Other objects will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing which discloses one embodiment of the stiff yarn manufactured in accordance with the present invention. It is to be understood, however, that the drawing is designed for the purpose of illustration only and not as a definition of the limits of the invention. I

The invention achieves the objects outlined above by providing a yarn not having a core thread. The yarn is made up of stiff hair in sections and lying in sequence with each section being wrapped by a natural or synthetic thread. The yarn is coated entirely, or in some of the sections, by a layer of plastic material. This coating is applied preferably in the areas of transition of the several sections of the stiffened yarn, i.e., where the hairs are joined. The yarn produced is of a fineness of about Nm 16-24. it may be even finer, since it is made without core thread and it is consequently of lower weight than the conventional yarns. Lower weight makes possible preparation of lighter insert material which does not lose its springiness or elasticity and is less expensive due to the saving in material possible. Furthermore, insert material made with the novel yarn of the invention has at least the same, if not greater, elasticity and recovery capacity than conventional inserts.

The process for making the novel yarn comprises placing stiff hairs of desired length in consecutive order lengthwise, with or without the ends thereof overlapping, and then wrapping them with a fine filament of a polyamide or polyester material having a strength of about Nm 300. The thread is then coated with a plastic, section by section, and is heat-polymerized and compressed while still in a thermoplastic condition.

The process of placing together a plurality of stiff hairs and wrapping them with a fine filament of a polyamide or polyester, may be carried out in a threadmaking machine in a simple manner. The number of stiff hairs which are to form the yarn is arbitrary. It only depends on the desired fineness of the yarn.

After the stiff hairs have been wrapped, the filament formed is treated, if desired, in spaced sections, by pouring a granulated powder thereon. The yarn is processed through an appropriate device for that purpose. The granulated powder is preferably a co-polyamide or a polyvinyl compound. It is, of course, possible to use a plastic material in the form of a paste.

After the yarn has thus been coated, polymerization of the plastic coating is carried out in an infrared heating device or other appropriate heating apparatus. The next step consists of compressing the yarn in a suitable device and then winding it up on a reel. The entire manufacturing process of the novel yarn may be accomplished by a processing machine capable of carrying out all the described steps continuously.

The novel yarn of stiff hair exhibits high strength and can be used in any conventional manner as an insert, for example, as an interlining in wearing apparel. In coating insert material made of the novel yarn, the latter is firmly joined to the fabric with which it is used by the coating. Even with very light inserts, this avoids any displacement of the hairs, such as the protruding of the ends of the horse hair which frequently occurs with known inserts.

Yarn manufactured by the previously described process may also be improved by impregnating the yarn with latex. The step of impregnating the yarn with latex results in an even envelopment of the yarn during the drying process and thus imparts to the yarn exceptionally high strength notwithstanding its fineness. The drying of the latex coating can be considerably accelerated if the coated yarn is passed through a heated zone or an area of warm air.

The wrapping of the sections of stiff hair may be carried out with a melting yarn," i.e., a yarn having a low melting point. The coated yarn is passed through a heated chamber, in which the wrapping thread melts. The stiff hairs will thus be glued together. The yarn can be passed through the heating area continuously or intermittently. This embodiment of the invention is especially desirable since the process is simple to perform and leads to yarn having particularly fine filaments which are important in the manufacture of light weight insert stiffening and materials. The thickness of the yarn is dependent principally on the thickness of the stiffening hairs. The strength of the melting yarn wrapping threads is of little importance.

The accompanying drawing is an enlarged'schematic illustration of one example of an embodiment of yarn constructed in accordance with the present invention.

As shown in the drawing, horse hair sections 4 are positioned in a linear relationship and the ends thereof overlap to form an endless thread. Whether or not sections 4 overlap, and to what extent, is optional. Thread 5 is wound around sections 4. As previously mentioned;

the thread may be polyamide or polyester having a fineness of about Nm 300.

After the intermediate product has thus been made, a plastic coating 6 is applied thereto either over the entire length, or preferably at the points where the sections of hair are joined. The coating is polymerized by applying heat.

If desired, a plurality of horse hairs may be provided in each section in order to form the thread. The number of hairs chosen to comprise the yarn is optional and depends on the desired thickness of the yarn.

While only one embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described, it will be obvious that many changes and modifications may be made thereunto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is: l. A process for making an endless horsehair yarn used for stiffening inserts comprising the steps of:

arranging natural or synthetic horsehairs consecutively lengthwise end to end in an abutting or overlapping relationship; helically wrapping a synthetic thread about the entire length of said arranged hairs; applying a plastic coating material to at least the wrapped, abutted or overlapped ends of the hairs;

subjecting said coating to a heat treatment; and compressing said hairs while the plastic is in a thermoplastic condition.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said thread comprises a polyamide filament.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said thread comprises a polyester filament.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said plastic material comprises a co-polyamide in powdered form.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said plastic material comprises a polyvinyl compound in powdered form.

6. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said step of subjecting said coating to a heat treatment comprises heating the yarn in an infrared heating apparatus.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the steps of impregnating the yarn formed by said hairs, thread and plastic material with latex, and heat drying the latex material.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said thread has a thickness of about Nm300.

9. The process as recited in claim 1, wherein said step of applying plastic coating material to said hairs comprises applying a coating of plastic material oflow melting point. 

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said thread comprises a polyamide filament.
 3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said thread comprises a polyester filament.
 4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said plastic material comprises a co-polyamide in powdered form.
 5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said plastic material comprises a polyvinyl compound in powdered form.
 6. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said step of subjecting said coating to a heat treatment comprises heating the yarn in an infrared heating apparatus.
 7. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the steps of impregnating the yarn formed by said hairs, thread and plastic material with latex, and heat drying the latex material.
 8. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said thread has a thickness of about Nm300.
 9. The process as recited in claim 1, wherein said step of applying plastic coating material to said hairs comprises applying a coating of plastic material of low melting point. 